I Won't Let You Fall
by TheLittleMermano
Summary: "I-I want to go back.." "..i won't let you fall. I promise." Alfred smiled slightly and held his hand out to me once more. I shakily reached my hand out to grab his, and jumped. "See, i told you i wouldn't let you fall." Lilli is a farm girl, and Alfred is a farm boy. What could possibly happen?
1. Chapter 1 (Lilli's POV)

"One of the hardest parts about living on a farm was that even when it was rainy, you still had to do chores. ...Even if you were only six years old. Another hard part about living on a farm, in the middle of no where, was having no friends.  
Well, i guess i had some friends, if you could even call sheep, cows,  
and pigs friends. My closest friend back then was my kitten, pistol.  
He followed me everywhere; to the barn, in the house, to the market..everywhere. Little did I know, another little pistol would be coming along soon..but not in the form you'd expect. "So..what should we get at the market today? big brother said to get some chocolate, and maybe some apples." I glanced down at Pistol, who only meowed in response. "We should buy a friend." I giggled, looking back at the path ahead of me. "a loyal, adventurous, funny, intelligent friend." Pistol meowed again. "i wish you had at least some of those traits. You can be funny and adventurous, but you aren't very intelligent. ..no offense. I just want a human friend, who i can actually have a conversation with." I huffed and looked down, kicking the dirt road in front of me. "I guess i have big brother Vash..but he's definitely not adventurous..  
And he's too old anyways." I stopped talking as Pistol and i finally arrived at the little market that was held every Saturday not too far away from my farm. I took a deep breath, smelling the delicious smell of spices and freshly baked bread. There were rows of booths lining the road, each one selling something different.  
Everything from fruit and vegetables, to meat, bread and pastries-  
pretty much anything i could think of. There were quite a few people too, each one with a grin on their face..except for one. At one of the booths there was a small boy, frowning. And even though my brother always told me not to eavesdrop, i still did, And was going to right now. I moved slightly closer, pretending like i wasn't listening at all. "But sir!" "No buts kid, you need more money. I can't just give you this for free." "Oh c'mon! ..i have a piece of gum! Would that work? Or i could bring my dog and trade her? Ohh..that wouldn't work, i need her. She's my only friend." This caught my attention. An animal being a child's only friend? That sounded familiar. Now, just because i lived on a farm didn't mean i don't have the manners of a true lady. So i walked over to the booth where the little boy was, and politely intervened. "Excuse me gentlemen, but i seemed to have overheard your conversation. What seems to be the problem?" I said, standing up straighter than i usually did. "This young boy doesn't have enough money to pay for his food." The man standing behind the booth explained. "Oh, well that isn't any problem at all. Allow me." I dug into the pocket of my skirt and pulled out five dollars. "Is this enough?" I asked. The man behind the booth nodded and replaced the money in my hand with a loaf of bread. "Thank you." I smiled, proud of the good deed i just did. I grabbed the young boy's hand and pulled him away from the booth, where it wasn't so crowded before handing him the loaf of bread. "Gee thanks miss! Your manners are real good too!" The boy grinned and took a bite of his bread. "You're quite welcome, and thank you." I curtsied with a small smile. "And i haven't introduced myself..i'm Lilli." "Alfred!" He held his hand out for a handshake. "Ladies don't shake hands." I said, still trying to be polite. "Oh. Right. Haha so what can i do for you? To repay you for the grub?" "you don't have to do anything Alfred." "..can i at least walk you home?" He asked softly with a small smile. "Sure. My house is this way." I said bluntly before turning around and starting to walk back down the road to my house, completely forgetting about the things i was supposed to buy. After a moment or two, Alfred caught up with me and glanced at Pistol. "Is that your cat?" "Sure is. You can pet him if you'd like." I glanced at Alfred as i said this, and his face lit up like a lantern. He knelt down next to Pistol and reached out to pet him, but Pistol dodged his hand and sprinted forward in the direction of my house. "Pistol! That wasn't very gentlemanly of you. In fact it was very rude.." I huffed and looked down, "sorry about that..he doesn't really like strangers." "Oh..its okay. My puppy doesn't really like strangers either, but she's at home." "So your parents are taking care of her?" "Nope. I don't have parents."  
He said. His expression told me he was used to saying this, as was I.  
"Thats alright, i don't either. So you have a brother or sister then?" He shook his head, "'fraid not. I had a twin brother, but some mean people took him away after our parents died. I live all by my lonesome." "..thats really sad.. I have a big brother who takes care of me.. How old are you?" He stared at his hands, appearing to be counting "seven!" "I'm six! We're pretty close in age, huh?" He nodded. "we should be friends. I don't have any friends really..besides my doggie. And a few ducks that live near my house." "I don't have any friends either.." I sighed. "so, we have a deal then?  
Friends?" I smiled, "yeah."

Moments later we arrived at my house "see you tomorrow?" Alfred asked. I nodded and thought for a moment. "where will we meet?" "How about the creek?" My brother didn't really like me going down there without him, since it was a bit dangerous "..sure." i figured if i always listened to my brother, i wouldn't be able to see the world or have adventures. And my adventuring started tomorrow.

The next day i slipped my dress over my head, put on my working boots and braided my hair- which at the time was rather long. "Big brother! I'm going outside to play!" I said as I ran into the kitchen and to the front door. "Alright. Don't walk too fast, don't talk to strangers, don't eat berries if you don't know what they are for sure, stay away from three leafed plants.." I wasn't sure what else he said, but i'm pretty sure i heard 'don't go near the creek' in there somewhere. Oh well. This time i made Pistol stay home, i didn't want him getting wet after all. And so i began the short journey to the creek in the ditch about half a mile away from my farm. "Hey Lilli!" I heard Alfred call, but i didn't see him anywhere. "Up here!" He laughed. I looked up and smiled, seeing Alfred in the tree above me. "Oh, hello. What are you doing up there?" I giggled as i watched him climb down the tree. Alfred jumped down from the lowest branch and walked over to me. "Climbing the tree. What else would i be doing?" He laughed again. I shrugged and continued walking again, Alfred following close behind. "What are we gonna play at the creek?" I glanced back at him. "Um..i dunno. Adventurers? Or hide and seek.. Tag? I guess we'll just figure it out when we get there." I nodded and stopped as we got to the ditch. It was pretty steep, and right at the bottom was the creek. Alfred didn't seem to care, and climbed down the hill like it was nothing. "..you don't come here very often, do you?" He looked up at me from the bottom of the ditch. "i've never been here without my brother." I sat down, starting to carefully scoot down the hill. By the time i got down to the creek a few minutes had passed, and Alfred had already taken off his shoes and rolled his pant legs up so he wouldn't get them wet. "Ready?" "Uh-huh!" Alfred jumped onto a rock that peaked out of the shallow creek. "Lets play adventurers." He smiled and held his hand out to help me join him on the rock. I grabbed his hand and stepped onto the rock. "What do adventurers do?" "Well..they jump on rocks and climb trees and eat bugs. ..i think." Alfred laughed. I crinkled my nose, quite disgusted with the idea of eating a bug. "Eww..." "Yeah i don't wanna eat a bug either. But we can do the other stuff!" He jumped to the nearest rock, which was only about a foot away and waited for me. I hesitated a moment but followed him, and this went on for a few minutes before we got to a rock with a larger gap between it and the next one. It was only about a three foot space but when you're six, its pretty scary to think about jumping over that. "I don't want to fall in.." I mumbled. Its not that i didn't want to fall in because it was deep, there was only about five inches of water, but because of the little minnows swimming around. Those things terrified me. "Oh c'mon, be brave!" Alfred jumped to the rock, "see? Easy!" But i still shook my head. "I-I want to go back.." "..i won't let you fall. I promise." Alfred smiled slightly and held his hand out to me once more. I shakily reached my hand out to grab his, and jumped. "See, i told you i wouldn't let you fall."


	2. Chapter 2 (Alfred's POV)

The people at the market have been whispering a lot today, but I haven't been able to catch much of what've been said. It was probably just gossip, nonetheless. Sometimes I feel alone, being the only person here who would be brave enough to speak loud enough for everyone to hear; but most say it's rude to speak your mind, so I normally stay quiet to please the majority. I haven't seen Lilli here today, which is pretty freakin' odd. Maybe that's what everyone is muttering about? "I heard that one of the farmers passed away earlier this morning," I heard one man say. "One that lives in the house down the road, near the creek, right?" a woman inquired. _Near the creek…_ I pushed passed the people in the crowd, keeping an eye out for my friend, but still not seeing her I started to panic. If what the people were saying was true, that could've been Lilli. The moment I escaped from the crowd I broke into a run. _What if she's not there? What if she's dead? What if... _no. I need to stop thinking like this. She's fine, I'm sure of it. By the time I got to her house I was out of breath, but I still ran in, the dog tags I always wore clinking together as I did. "Lilli?" I ran into the hallway and stopped as I saw Vash-…that's not Vash. That's..That's Lilli? What? What happened to her hair.. _Alfred, that's not important right now._ Lilli looked up at me, tears streaming down her face. "A-Alfred.." she said quietly as her lip quivered. She shakily stood up and brushed off her dress. _She really is a well mannered lady-like girl.._ "What happened?" "V-Vash is dead.." she said in a hushed voice. "W-What?!" "I found him dead in his room..People just took him away to the morgue—" before she could continue I pulled her into a tight hug. "Are you alright?" after feeling her nod, I let out a relieved sigh. "Good. Everything will be okay. I promise. I'm here for you...You aren't alone, 'kay kid?" "I'm not a kid." She huffed and hesitantly pulled away from the hug. _She probably doesn't want to talk about what happened..What can I say? Oh, right, her hair! _"so…what's up with the hair? It was so pretty before…" "I cut it off..In memory of big brother. a-and I read that in some cultures it means a new beginning." _Okie dokey.. Guess that makes sense. _"Well you certainly look like Vash.." I thought for a moment and walked into the bathroom, which was right next to where we stood. I'm assuming she cut her hair, walked into the hallway and just broke down. I picked up one of the severed braids and took the ribbon out of it. Lilli peaked into the bathroom, her expression making it obvious that she was confused. I chuckled and stepped closer to her, gingerly tying the ribbon in her now jaw lengthed hair. "There. Now you look like a girl again." I said, the usual smile plastered to my face. "..Do I look alright?" _you look perfect. ..You're perfect. _"You look fine, Lilli. Now… Do you wanna go out and take your mind off of..y'know, or do you need some time to grieve?" "I still need time." "alrighty… I'll come check on you tomorrow. If you need me before then, you know where I live." I said, still smiling, before walking back out of the house. As soon as I knew she couldn't see me I let my smile fade. Things would be a lot different now that Vash wasn't around, and Lilli didn't have anyone. I knew the happy, upbeat friend I had before wouldn't be there anymore. She wouldn't smile as much as she did before, or laugh. And without Vash here to keep me away, I'd have to hold myself back. When Vash was here all I had to do was look at her lovingly and he'd come to my house later on without Lilli and yell at me. Now a kiss or love confession? He'd practically kill me. Literally. It happened a few times, and let me just say that it was _traumatizing._ Honestly when I met Lilli almost eight years ago, I never thought I could have feelings for her. But I guess that was because I was seven. Back then the concept of love was, to be blunt, disgusting. I sighed and decided I should head home, my old dog was probably hungry.

Weeks passed and I started visiting Lilli even more frequently than I did before. She said she didn't need help with the farm, but I knew she really did. After all, she wasn't used cooking her own food or having to do all the chores by herself or anything like that. In fact her brother helped with almost everything; sewing, cooking, cleaning… but she was slowly adjusting to her new lifestyle. "yo, Lilli!" I said loudly as I walked into the house, not wanting to scare her. …but the sound of my dog tags tapping together probably alerted her first. "I'm in the living room!" _her voice is so soft and pretty sounding_. I put on my signature grin and sauntered in. "g'morning! Knitting again?" "good morning Al! and yep!" she said in a sing songy tone, putting her knitting needles and yarn in the basket beside her. "what are you working on now?.." I asked, sitting down on the floor next to her rocking chair. "a scarf..or part of a blanket.. I'm not quite sure yet." She smiled, looking happier than I've seen her since before..well..since before her brother died. "alright… hey, you seem like you're in a good mood. What's up?" "I'm just in a good mood.. don't really know why. But part of it might be because on this exact day, eight years ago, I met my best friend." She laughed lightly, as she always did. "oh! That's what I was gonna say!" _how could I forget today is June 8__th__?! _"yep! I'm really glad I met you.. I'd be really lonely without you, since you were.. Well, still are, my only friend." "I'd be lonely without you too!" _I'd be lonelier than you could possibly know._ i thought for a moment, trying to think of how to word what I wanted to say. "so, do you wanna celebrate somehow? I mean it is kind of an.. um.. Anniversary, for our friendship." I said. She nodded, "are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she stood up and walked over to the front door. "…the creek?" my grin grew wider at the thought, _I haven't been there in ages._ I stood up and joined Lilli at the door, leaning against it as I waited for her as she knelt down to to put her boots on. "yep!" she stood up again and opened the door, causing me to stumble to the side. "hey.." I whined. "Sorry! I didn't realize you were actually putting all your weight against the door, silly." She laughed. Her laugh was my favorite sound.. it was soft and feathery, and I like to imagine her laugh would be how an angel's would sound. "alright," I said with a sigh. "lets go." "lets race." She looked at me with a challenging grin. "..i thought you said racing isn't very lady-like." I laughed. "well, I'm not really a lady am I?" "of course you're a lady! What else would you be?" "Girls are clumsy and awkward, ladies are well-mannered and pretty, and women are elegant and beautiful. I'm only a girl." She said with a small smile, the same smile that always melts my heart. _I think you're a lady. And a girl, and woman._ "anyway— do you wanna race or not?" Lilli changed the subject. "when would I ever turn down a good race? Hey!" I ran to try to catch up with her. "no fair! You have to tell me when we're starting!" "well it's too late now!" she laughed. pretty soon she stopped by the ditch, and I wasn't too far behind. I leaned against a nearby tree, trying to catch my breath. "you're a..b-big meanie, Lilli.." I panted. She shrugged and laughed a bit, starting to head down the ditch to the creek. I followed, staying close behind her to make sure she didn't fall. We jumped down to the rocks, the same ones we jumped across as children. "..I don't think we'll both fit on one rock like we used to." I chuckled and stepped onto the first rock. "yeah I don't think so either.. but we don't need to." "yeah I guess." I said. _It's a good thing we wouldn't fit, if we did we'd be too close.._ I felt my face get warmer as I thought about this, but I just shrugged it off, hoping Lilli wouldn't notice. Just like the first time we came here, I stepped onto a rock, the she would follow. Except this time she followed on the rock behind mine, rather than the same one. After I jumped across a few more rocks, I looked behind me to check if she was following me. Lilli was on one of the rocks a few feet behind mine, with a larger gap between it and the other ones. I must not have noticed before, since I'm quite a bit taller than Lilli and a three feet isn't much of a distance for me to step across. I sighed and hopped back across the rocks again. "are you stuck _again_?" I asked. She nodded slightly and looked down. "why don't you just step in the water—" "minnows." She said quickly, cutting me off. "you're still scared of those silly little things? ..oh well.." I held my hand out to her and smiled. "I won't let you fall. I promise."


End file.
